Play As A Study In Photography
The Pursuit of Imagination
Photography is a creative art which has the ability to be a business. If you tried to approach photography as a business without the creative art the ability to create slowly closes. Part of becoming a better photographer is to use your imagination to create. This is why you will find many highly successful photographers will always have a side creative project to keep the imagination running. This is how I started to think of two plastic candy bowls as what I would eventually call the “Empire Family Portrait”.
The Origins of the
“Empire Family Portrait”
Years ago I started accumulating flash photography gear. My wife gifted me one speedlite and a remote. The flash equipment pile started from there. My first thought was to grab a candy bowl that looked like Darth Vader and try and get some moody shadows. I put the flash remote on the camera, set it to TTL, turned on the speedlite, matched it to the remote, and tried to take some moody portraits of Darth Vader. I of course failed. I then read the manual, several books lighting, changed everything to manual settings, and I was off to creating what my imagination actually wanted.
Off To The Books
To learn flash photography I jumped back into study mode. I made various portraits of myself, verified I could use bounce light to my advantage in my small studio, added to the moonlight and speedlite collection, got some softboxes, and kept on hitting the books to verify that the money spent on gear was not just for show. I had ventured into the studio photographers journey with light. No longer was I just out in the world taking landscapes and street photography. No longer was I waiting for light. I was creating and modifying light for a purpose. I was learning to create a predictable outcome.
Returning To The Empire
After doing many lighting examples with me, a model, and various other subjects, I came back to Vader. Now I knew how to give that candy bowl a look and feel. Now I knew how to make light bend to my imagination. What was once a creative throught in the back of my head, now had become a coherent idea of creating an “Empire Family Portrait”. I also picked up from around the house a matching storm trooper candy bowl and the Smoke Ninja for a bit of effects.
Grab The Opportunity To Play
It was never the idea of creating some grand Star Wars salute, but instead a time to play as a photographer. If you can imagine something with light, objects, placement, and props you are building your visual mind library. Take the chance to play at your own expedition in light.